Page 20 of Enchanted By a Pirate
Anna raised her hands placatingly as she looked at the little fairy. "Just a moment. Toni, we really have to…" As she turned, she paused. Where'd he gone to? Wait a second. In front of her was a huge gray rock with thick moss growing on it that hadn't been there before. "Anton?" Curious, she came closer and felt the green-gray mass that looked like an oversized, lifeless stone.But it wasn't stone. It was hard, yet soft and warm. That was exactly how the giant had had felt when she'd almost run into him while fleeing the pirates that night. "Incredible!"
Beaming with happiness, Anton opened his eyes and sat upright. Little by little, the individual parts of the rock became mobile and she recognized the giant's huge limbs.
"Great trick, huh? Now you know how we hide."
"Finish the story!" Margerite demanded.
"I sat up slowly so as not to scare you, Anemone. Normally, you see, everyone runs away screaming when they see me, but even though you were tiny, you remained where you were and looked up at me. Not horrified, but curious. You were smaller than my fingernail, but I knew that your inner size was equal to mine."
Anna smiled at him. As he spoke, images flickered through her mind. Unfortunately, they were only fleeting, so she didn't recognize anything clearly. Was her memory returning because of his story? Then he absolutely needed to keep talking. "And that's how we became friends?"
Anton nodded. "You immediately realized how much I enjoyed your stories and from then on, you told me many, many stories every day. I found them so beautiful I didn't want to do anything else but listen to them. But of course you had to do your work as a flower fairy every now and then and that time dragged on endlessly for me. At some point, you could no longer stand it, so you conjured up a big book of fairy tales for me and taught me to read. And that's why, Anemone, you've been my best friend ever since, no matter what mistakes you've made. You changed my life." He held out his hand and, as if this was what she'd always done, she jumped on it and let him guide her to his cheek, where she nuzzled it.
"I think your story helped me. I don't really remember — it's elusive, like a dream. But there is something." As crazy as that sounded.
"It's coming back?"
"It seems so."
Anton sighed happily while Margerite fluttered around her impatiently. "Enough of story time. Now change, Anemone, so I can take you to the source."
"I'm supposed to transform?"
"Yes, into a fairy. I showed you how."
Anna slowly shook her head. "To be honest, I think it would be a waste of fairy dust if I tried again. Even in my memory, I was a…I was always a human. I don't feel that I was someone else once."
"But if you're unable to change, how are you going to save us?" the fairy groaned. Lines of disappointment showed on her face, making it appear even thinner. Could Anna only do something in the form of a fairy? As a human, she had to be able to make amends for her supposed mistake.
"Give her some time. She must recover first." Anton nodded encouragingly at Anna.
"She's much too slow this way. It'll take us five days to reach the source!"
"Wait a minute, Margerite, I'll carry her."
Anna grinned. There were definitely advantages to having a giant as a friend.
Margerite shook her head vehemently. "No, you are not allowed to know where our source is. Maybe everything will be okay again and the balance will be restored and then it'll bubble over with fairy dust. This means that no one but fairies can know where its location. It's bad enough I am showing Anemone the source despite her transgressions. But if I reveal it to you, I would be betraying my own people."
The corners of Anton's mouth drooped. Anna wanted to reprimand Margerite, but he waved it off. "It's okay, Anemone. I don't belong in this realm, so I'm not allowed to know its secrets. That's fine. I'll wait for you here."
"But if it truly takes five days…"
Margerite rolled her eyes. "I was exaggerating. But since you choose to walk rather than fly, we will need at least a day instead of an hour."
A day? Anna could already feel the blisters on her feet. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Sheepishly, she put her hands on it. "Can we have breakfast first?"
"You can pick some berries along the way."
"A few berries? That's supposed to sate me?" She was thinking more of a pile of pancakes and a warm lemon balm tea.
Anton laughed. "You always liked to eat."
Margerite also smiled. "Once you're back in fairy form, a few berries a day will be enough for you. You'll have to get by somehow until then."
Anna's mouth gaped in disbelief. "Get by somehow?"
Anton laughed and Anna almost fell off his hand, but he immediately held her fast. Gently, he placed her back in the meadow. "Have fun and take good care of her, Margerite."
